Jan-Hendrik Herbst – New Chair of Catholic Religious Education

Jan-Hendrik Herbst studied Catholic Theology and Mathematics with a focus on teacher education at the University of Münster (WWU), where he graduated in 2015 with a diploma in Christian Social Sciences, a Master of Education, and a Master of Arts. After completing his teaching internship, he earned his doctorate at Ruhr University Bochum. His dissertation was awarded the Becker-Staritz Prize in 2023. Over the next two years, he served as a visiting professor at the University of Freiburg and the University of Bochum, holding a Chair. In 2024, he completed his habilitation in “Religious Education / Practical Theology” and, in the same year, took over as Deputy Head of the Chair of Religious Education (Catholic) at TU Dresden. In the summer of 2026, he was appointed and, on July 1, named professor at the TUD. In this interview, he explains how he combines religious education with democracy education.

Name: Prof. Jan-Hendrik Herbst
Chair: Practical Theology with a focus on Religious Education (Catholic)
Institute: Institute of Catholic Theology
Faculty: Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Science

What are your core research areas and interests?
My core research areas involve the intersection of religion, education, and politics. For example, I examine cross-cutting issues in teacher education, such as the field of democracy education; religious education in democratic transitions; and the relationship between religious communities and democratic civil society.

What was your most interesting or exciting research project?
My most interesting research project is the ongoing Freiraum project "Teaching.Democracy", which fosters interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations in teaching and research, as well as local and international partnerships.

What project are you currently working on?
In addition to the Freiraum project, I am currently leading the DFG project "Controversial Topics in Denominational Religious Education", in which we are gathering subjective theories from Christian religious education teachers regarding current social controversies and their didactic treatment.

What’s one thing that absolutely must be on your desk?
A Post-it note with my most urgent tasks.

Do you have a favorite quote? If so, what is it, and who said it?
I don’t have a true favorite quote, but certain quotes keep “sticking” with me. One quote that has always fascinated me as a theologian—even if I don’t fully understand it—is Adorno’s well-known line from Minimal Moralia: “Philosophy, as the only form that can still be justified in the face of despair, would be the attempt to view all things as they present themselves from the standpoint of redemption.”

What was the last book you read, or what was the last movie or TV series you watched?
Since I like both books and movies/TV shows, I’ll just answer both: I’m currently reading A Tale of Love and Darkness (Amos Oz) and recently finished watching the final season of Babylon Berlin.

More information about you can be found at...
... on the Chair’s website at https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/phil/ikt/religionspaed/die-professur/inhaber-in